Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 9, before section 6, to insert the following new section:“6.—Section 2 of the Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Act 1991 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), between the words “for the purposes of any provision of this Act whereby the time within which an action in respect of an injury” and the words “may be brought” by inserting the words “or an action in respect of a financial product”,
(b) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(4) For the purposes of any provision of this Act whereby the time within which an action in respect of financial product may be brought depends on a person’s date of knowledge references to that person’s date of knowledge are references to the date on which he first had knowledge of the fact that the financial product was defective.”.”.

This amendment concerns the workings of the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman. Under existing legislation, there is a six-year rule whereby, in effect, somebody can only complain to the ombudsman about a product sold to him or her within the past few years. I am proposing this amendment to deal with the potential misselling of payment protection insurance policies, problems that arise some years later about endowment mortgages, risky borrow-to-invest schemes and so forth. Very often people only find out well after the six-year period has expired that there is a problem with the product they bought. The most high profile example involves the misselling of payment protection insurance policies, a matter which is being investigated by the Central Bank.

I understand that in other jurisdictions the time limit applies after a person becomes aware that the product he or she bought was in some way defective or potentially missold. That is the essence of what I am proposing. The Minister should consider moving from the situation where the existing time limit is strictly six years from the date a product is sold to one where people would have a period of time from when they become aware of an issue with the product in which to make a complaint about the product bought. Very often, under existing legislation, people find out too late that they were sold a pig in a poke and have no recourse through the ombudsman. Therefore, this is a sensible proposal. If the Minister cannot accept it under this Bill, I hope he will consider legislating for it in another.